Tag: land of the lustrous

It’s easy to be cynical when it comes to award shows, and even more so when they factor public voting polls into their decision process. Crunchyroll’s inaugural Anime Awards was met with a lot of criticism last year when Yuri!!! On Ice – the romantic figure skating show that garnered a devout audience within and outside the anime community – ended up sweeping in most categories. Whilst a vocal backlash shouldn’t serve to deny what was undeniably a special moment for anime, it’s also easy to empathise with those who feel like a lot of fantastic shows missed their shot at recognition because of its overwhelming presence throughout the categories.

The Anime Awards are making a return this year, however, and it’s looking like they’re making improvements. There’s more categories, a vast range of nominees, no bias towards shows in which Crunchyroll have streaming licenses for and a fancy live event to announce and congratulate all the winners. As it becomes increasingly clear that a lot of traditional film and media award institutes have little interest in recognising the outstanding effort that goes into anime production every year, the presence of a ceremony dedicated to highlighting its diverse display of handiwork and arranged by people with a vested interest in the medium does not go unappreciated.

We neglected to publish an end-of-year anime editorial for 2017, so as compensation we thought we’d list our picks for first round of voting for the Anime Awards 2018!

There’s certainly room to question whether it’s fair game to include an anime with a film budget against a bunch of shows made for weekly television broadcast, but when said film is Kyoto Animation’s soul-stirring masterwork A Silent Voice it’s difficult to justify voting for anything else. Beyond its blooming seasonal scenarios and emotive depictions of characters, its evocative use of drawing techniques to represent social anxiety and the hallmarks of adolescent growth is a testament to just how powerful a medium animation can be when it comes to visualising our deepest feelings.

BEST CGI

The increasing prominence of CGI and 3D animation within anime is not a change that has necessarily been welcomed by its community en masse. Besides fan preference for the hand-drawn animation that has long been the lifeblood of the medium, there’s definitely a case for the sudden usage of CGI in a mostly 2D environment being jarring to the point that it breaks immersion. But if there was ever a show to sell the merits, Land Of The Lustrous is indisputably the one. For a show with a malleable, mineral-based cast that offers an intriguing take on the concept of body horror, the extra dimension does wonders to add depth – in both senses of the word – to pivotal moments in the story. Lustrous’ crowning achievement, however, lies in its expertly choreographed battle scenes, which utilise 3D movement to showcase levels of fluidity and intensity most action shows can only aspire to match.

The inclusion of Your Name in this category personally feels a little outdated – especially since in the UK its initial theatrical run was at the end of 2016 rather than 2017 for US viewers – but even if the body-swapping tale was monumental enough to earn its place as Japan’s fourth highest-grossing film of all time, it’s still second fiddle here to A Silent Voice. Besides the obvious points of it being an endearing story of redemption and an absolute tearjerker, the sincerity in which A Silent Voice handles the personal repercussions of bullying for both the perpetrator and their victim makes for a uniquely thought-provoking theme. Special props to its impeccable sound design, too, which implements aspects of Shouko’s hearing disability in its delivery of the smallest of background noises and tracks.

Whilst it’s not exactly clear whether the criteria for Best Opening includes both the song and its accompanying animated sequence, the clarification wouldn’t do anything to make this category any less of a knife fight between two nominees. Void_Chords‘ bombastic ‘The Other Side Of The Wall’ serves as the perfect opening roar for an anime that slickly pulls off the arduous task of making steampunk cool again, but the casually cool jazz licks and rollicking, vocoder-led hook of ‘Shadow And Truth’ from One III Notes just about coup d’état’s the competition. Apologies for, uh, any butchering of the French language for the sake of references there.

Anime endings generally tend to fall on the more sombre or pensive side of the musical spectrum, so it’s always a treat when a show signs off with a bonafide bop existing for the sole purpose of lodging itself in your brain for the next few hours. Bubbly and highly memorable, ‘Ishukan Communication’ is a wonderful encapsulation of all the things that made Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid a delight to watch. Perhaps its only fault was its partner visual’s inclusion of a calendar segment detailing a week in the life of its main ensemble – a painstaking reminder that it would be a whole week before we were reunited with our fun-loving dragon friends.

Australian composer Kevin Penkin takes on a role akin to that of an artful puppet master with his score for the devastatingly beautiful Made In Abyss. For the duration of Riko & Reg’s descent into the unknown, he’s constantly manipulating the atmosphere and emotional tone to define the mood of every moment. There’s the unshakeable eeriness of ‘The First Layer’. The folksy rush of ‘Swings And Roundabouts’. The awe-inspiring choral sweep of ‘Hanazeve Caradhina’. It’s every bit as fantastical and magical as the show’s Ghibli-esque setting, and every bit as unpredictable as the show’s winding plot.

Want to have your say? You can find additional information and vote for your picks at the Anime Awards website before the ceremony takes place in Los Angeles on February 24th.